I was
still hesitant, but placed a call to the school and agreed to bea
mentor. The lady in the office said, "I have a fourth grade girl
whoreally needs some help. Just sign in at the school office and we
askthat you come one hour each week." The only other things I knew
wereher name, Sarah, and that she came from a poor home situation.

I was nervous as I arrived for our first mentoring session. I was
shownto Sarah's classroom and introduced to her. A room down the hall
wasavailable for us to meet in and off we went. I sensed this was going
tobe a "long" hour. Nothing prepared me for what happened that day.

Wanting to put Sarah at ease, I said, "Let me tell you a little
aboutmyself and then you can tell me about yourself." So, I rattled
offsome facts and then waited for her to talk. Total silence greeted
me.Her long hair hung across her face and she didn't even look at me
whenI was talking. We sat in silence for a few minutes and it soon
becameobvious she wasn't going to share any information about herself. I
hadto think of something quick.

Questions---wasn't that how you got information from others? "Tell
meabout your family." When that didn't get any response, I tried,
"Whatare your favorite subjects in school?" Then I ventured, "Do you
haveany favorite foods?" Nothing. Not even a faint shrug of her
shoulders.All my fears that I would fail at this came rushing in at
once. Howcould I help a child when she wouldn't even speak to me?

Not knowing what else to do I said, "Why don't we go back to
youclassroom?" She almost bolted from the room and was down thehall and
back in her class before I could even say good-by to her.I prayed about
this over the next week and decided to give it alittle more time.

I went back over the next several weeks and the scene wasrepeated over
and over. I asked questions; she sat in silence.Her teacher assured me
Sarah was benefiting from these sessions,but I failed to see what good I
was doing. Then one week,something different happened.

I had just asked Sarah another question when she looked at meand said,
"You ask too many questions." After I recovered fromthe shock of hearing
her speak, I told her that one way to get meto stop asking questions
was for her talk. From that time on, we began to make progress in our
relationship.

Bit by
bit, she began to share about herself. I want to be a beautician when I
graduate from high school," she would often tell me. Sincemost of her
family never went beyond ninth or tenth grade, this wassurprising to
hear from her. We celebrated such things as improvedgrades and the fact
that she was becoming more assertive in expressingherself. On the rare
occasion when I'd see her parents, they would tellme that Sarah talked
about me all the time. I was thrilled to watch herblossom and I hoped
that one day we might even be able to talk aboutChristianity.

Sarah knew that I was a pastor's wife, but I did bring up matters
offaith with her as I didn't feel that was my role with her in that
setting.As we grew more comfortable with each other, she would
occasionallymention church, but nothing deeper.

Sarah surprised me one day by greeting me with, "Can I call you onthe
phone sometime?" I was pleased she felt that safe with me andagreed she
could call once a week. When she did call, there wouldbe a period of
silence and then I'd hear, "Hi," followed by more silence.After some
discussion about how to have a telephone conversation,she began to be
more at ease on the phone and would sometimeschat with me as if we were
girlfriends. The staff at school couldn'tbelieve she was calling me and
sharing herself so freely.

Sarah and I began our relationship when she was in the fourth gradeand
continued till she was in high school. We moved at that time,but I still
got the occasional phone call from her to fill me in on whatwas
happening. One day I received a very special call from Sarah.

In numerous phone calls Sarah had mentioned that she was going to a
church near where she lived. I had encouraged her to keepdoing so, but
really hadn't pushed her to make any kind of commitment.In one of her
last phone calls to me she stated, "I went forward atchurch and accepted
Christ last Sunday and was baptized." Whata joyous announcement that
was to hear!
I haven't heard from Sarah in quite some time, but she is always inmy
heart and my prayers. Sometimes I reflect on the fact thatI almost
didn't take the time to be a mentor to Sarah, it grievesme to think that
I thought there was no time in my life to help her.

I pray that Sarah's life will continue to move in positive directionsbecause of our relationship. She certainly blessed my life.

I hope you will consider giving of your time and talents to a childin
need. Please let a child know that someone believes in them.I think of
it as an investment in our future. Be a mentor!

I wonder where would I be today without the support of so many wonderful
people. And, where would this child be if I hadn't taken.